Electrical bump connectors such as metal bumps or balls are used in flip-chip (C4) applications. As the progress of miniaturization and the requirement for Pb-free solders continues, conventional bump metallurgies are becoming inadequate for elevated-temperature processing. Additionally, the sizes of individual metal grains in the junction between a microelectronic device metallization and the electrical bump become increasingly problematic relative to the mass of the electrical bump. Consequently, junction disparities have an increasingly detrimental effect on electrical communication between the device and the electrical bump. Elevated process temperatures that are required for Pb-free solder processing is also problematic for conventional bump metallurgies.